U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Dip More Than Expected To 267,000

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended December 19th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 267,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 272,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 270,000 from the 271,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the modest decrease, jobless claims pulled back further off the five-month high of 282,000 set in the week ended December 5th.

Nonetheless, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 272,500, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average of 270,750.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell by 47,000 to 2.195 million in the week ended December 12th.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of continuing claims climbed to 2.211 million, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's revised average of 2.201 million.